"A Ronso youth with a gift for mastering enemies' abilities, he abandoned his homeland over ten years ago and now he watches over Yuna. He speaks only to those he deems worthy, but his fierce appearance belies a gentle heart."

—Scan

Kimahri Ronso is a playable character in Final Fantasy X and non-playable character in Final Fantasy X-2. He is of the Ronso tribe. While taller than humans, he is smaller than the average Ronso and has a broken horn. Like all Ronso, he has the Lancet ability which allows him to copy certain special moves from Fiends.

Mostly out of shame over his broken horn, Kimahri rarely speaks to anyone. Whenever he does, he only talks to those he likes and trusts, which is a main part of why he does not initially talk to male protagonist Tidus — he neither likes nor trusts him upon their first meeting. The first time he speaks during Final Fantasy X is following Operation Mi'ihen, when he reminds Tidus — who is shocked to hear Kimahri talk at all — that he must keep a bright exterior and happy face to help brighten Yuna's dark journey. From then on, he only talks when necessary and usually offers helpful advice when he does speak.

Mục lục

As a young Ronso, Kimahri was not well accepted by the rest of his tribe, who viewed him as inferior due to his short stature — despite his height surpassing that of any non-Ronso — and his broken horn. His horn was broken in a duel with Biran Ronso, one of two aggressive young Ronso who occasionally bump into Kimahri during the journey to tease him and give harsh-sounding yet useful advice, the other being Yenke Ronso. Kimahri is usually silent throughout the game because of his shame of bearing a broken horn. In fact, Kimahri swore never again to step foot on his home of Mt. Gagazet due to this, though in the end his devotion to Yuna and her pilgrimage was greater than his shame.

Kimahri's guardianship of Yuna began long before she officially decided to become a summoner. After departing from Mt. Gagazet in shame ten years before Final Fantasy X began, Kimahri discovered a dying Auron — who had managed to literally crawl all the way from the Zanarkand Ruins while wounded — outside Bevelle. Auron told Kimahri about the daughter of High Summoner Braska, Yuna, and asked him to fulfill a promise Auron had made to Braska in his stead: to remove Yuna from Bevelle and transport her to the island of Besaid, where she may grow up peacefully. During Yuna's farewell speech to the group via a sphere, she says that Kimahri told her that taking her to Besaid was "the wish of a man facing death." While Yuna assumes he is talking about to her father, Kimahri could in fact have been referring to Auron, as it is never mentioned in the game he had ever met Braska.

Kimahri before fighting Yunalesca

Kimahri honored Auron's request and made sure that Yuna arrived at Besaid safely. When his task was completed, he prepared to depart, yet Yuna pleaded with him to remain with her, and he complied. After Yuna's forced wedding to Seymour — a powerful unsent Guado with the belief that peace can only be achieved in death — and subsequent escape to the temple, Kimahri willingly helps Tidus break into the Chamber of the Fayth despite the taboos in order to ensure Yuna's safety. Kimahri's main character growth occurs when he finally returns to Mount Gagazet and is confronted by Biran and Yenke Ronso in a two-on-one match to test whether or not he is worthy to climb Mt. Gagazet. He proves his worth as a Ronso in defeating the two, and Biran is proud to see that Kimahri surpassed him. Further, the Ronso then make a vow to stop anyone from the temples who pursued Yuna and her companions. Unfortunately, Seymour is the one who follows, and in trying to stop him, nearly the entire Ronso tribe is slaughtered.

Kimahri Ronso, guardian of High Summoner Yuna and elder of Mt. Gagazet.

After the defeat of Sin, Yuna's Eternal Calm began, and a year later, Kimahri left Besaid to move back to Mt. Gagazet, where he became the new Elder of the Ronso tribe. Another year after that, he discovered a sphere on the mountain that sparks Yuna's new journey depicted in Final Fantasy X-2. For Kimahri's own part, during Final Fantasy X-2, he had to face various issues as the new elder of the Ronso tribe, most notably the rebellion of a young Ronso named Garik, who desired to seek vengeance upon the Guado for the grievances they caused two years prior under Seymour's command. Kimahri, however, wanted to make peace with the Guado and sought to abate Garik's anger. Another notable issue Kimahri faced was the disappearance of two Ronso pups (children), Lian and Ayde, who had left the mountain in search of adventure and a way to fix Kimahri's broken horn. Kimahri could not search for them himself because, as Elder, he could not leave Gagazet while dealing with Garik's rage and urge for revenge. Simultaneously, Kimahri was faced with the plight of deciding a new path for the Ronso's future, as their way of life changed once the mountain was no longer considered sacred Yevon ground and summoners were no longer passing through on pilgrimages to the Zanarkand Ruins. The Ronso were left without the purpose of guarding the mountain for the sake of Yevon as they long had in the past. Furthermore, Garik's unwillingness to consent to Kimahri's wishes that peace be made with the Guado were due in large part to Kimahri's inability to decide a new path for the future of the Ronso. With Kimahri unable to do this, Garik felt that he was unworthy to be the Ronso elder.

Eventually, Lian and Ayde return and — based on their descriptions of their experiences in the outside world — Kimahri realizes the answer to the plights he was facing concerning both Garik's discontent and the Ronsos'. Kimahri realizes that all Ronso should follow the example of Lian and Ayde in trying to find their own individual paths while working together to forge a better future for one another, and that he alone can not provide a single answer to what the future of the entire group should be. As a result, Garik and Kimahri reconcile and the Ronso craft a statue in Kimahri's image, representing his status as the hero of the tribe.

Being of the Dragoon class, Kimahri uses various Spears and Lances in battle. For defense, he relies on Armlets. As the only character without a predetermined section of the Sphere Grid, he can move into any other area and grow as the player sees fit. Like Auron, Kimahri has the Piercing ability by default on most of his weapons; however, he has less Strength but higher Agility at the start of the game. Kimahri is also a Blue Mage, allowing him to use his Lancet ability to learn new Ronso Rage Overdrives and starts off with the classic Jump.

Kimahri's Sphere Grid area runs in the middle of the Sphere Grid, and his Sphere Grid color is blue. The unique abilities that are in Kimahri's default position on the sphere grid include the following:

Kimahri Ronso does not have specific quotes like the other characters. He rarely speaks during battle (he only says, "Don't move!" and "Stop!" while using Threaten), and even then, he speaks mostly in grunts and growls.

Kimahri's theme is considered to be a song called "People of the North Pole", which is also the theme of the Ronso tribe, as well as a song on the game's original soundtrack. The first time it is heard is when Kimahri first encounters Biran and Yenke in Luca. It is heard again when he encounters them on the Moonflow. It is also the permanent background music for Mt. Gagazet in Final Fantasy X.

In the English versions of Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy X-2, Kimahri shares the same voice actor with Wakka.

In Defense of the Ancients: Allstars, a popular custom map in Warcraft III, one of the playable heroes is Azwraith the Phantom Lancer, whose model is that of a Blademaster reskinned to look like Kimahri, while also using Kimahri's portrait.

Kimahri refers to himself in the first person three times during the story - twice while speaking to Biran at Mt. Gagazet, and once in an optional scene if he jumps onto Sin before Tidus during the attack on Sin at the end of the game.

As Kimahri is 27 in Final Fantasy X-2, it is enigmatic how he could be the elder of the tribe as 27-year-olds are very young. It can be presumed older Ronso were slain by Seymour's hands. It is also possible that he became the elder due his victory over both Yenke and Biran since he was considered to be disgraced for having his horn broken.